Of Crackers and Muslims

WIP

09–11–2018, Mumbai, India: Trouble with crackers is you always burst them.

Good Morning Everyone. This is the Friday Post on a serene Friday morning. That’s because I am in Mumbai where the air quality at this time of the year is good and the bursting of crackers doesn’t cause the pollution to skyrocket. We can’t say the same about the Delhi NCR though. The Air Quality Index in the NCR region had touched hazardous levels even as the Supreme Court order to ban some cracker and limit the timing for bursting orders “went up in flames”. This post, however, is neither about Diwali nor about crackers. Neither is it about the air quality of Delhi. This is about how Muslims used to burst crackers during Shab-e-Baraát and how this practice has virtually vanished, and perhaps why this may be a good thing after all.

What is Shab-e-Baraát?

Every religion has its auspicious days and so is the case with Islam. While there are two Muslim festivals — Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha — mandated by Islamic law (as in fasting is prohibited during them), there are a lot of auspicious days including the 10th of Muharram and 15th of Shabaan. (Perhaps I will write about the Islamic calendar one day.)

The 15th of Shabaan is referred to as Shab-e-Baraát or the night of forgiveness. This is believed to be a night when the sins of believers are forgiven and hence a lot of Muslims spend this night in prayers and asking for mercy. Subject to debate today because of the spread of the ideology followed by the Wahabi school of thought, Shab-e-Baraát is nevertheless celebrated across large parts of the Muslim world.

In India, the festival has always been a momentous one.